Don't Give Up The Fight
by PeetaxKatnissx13RW
Summary: Katniss has been seeing Prim in her dreams,but one night,Prim tells her something's very wrong with she and Peeta's son. Peeta's POV,rated T for violence!
1. Chapter 1

**One shot,Peeta's POV. Not sure how many chapters,yet so bear with me.**

"Katniss! Katniss,wake up!"

I heard Katniss whimpering in her sleep,while I couldn't sleep. After that nasty hijack attack this morning,how could I? I know it sounds ridicules, but we're both still petrified of the nightmares...the flashbacks. When I finally shook Katniss awake,she fell straight into my arms crying.

"Peeta...Peeta..." She whispered through her tears.

"It's ok,it's ok,Kat...it's over now. I've got you." I whispered back.

When she calmed down,she pulled back and took my hands.

"No...no it's not,Peeta. It's not ok..."

"What do you mean? It's over now."

"No,it's not. It...never leaves."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's...it's Prim. I keep hearing her...all the time,not just at night."

I'm still not sure what she means. Does she mean that Prim's ghost or something? It doesn't make much sense.

"Normally,I'm fine...but she said...something about Orion. Something's wrong with him."

"Did she say what?"

I have to play along I guess,even though I still don't fully understand.

"No...the last thing I remember before you woke me up was something about my mom..."

"That we should take him to your mom?"

She nodded.

"I'll call Gale in the morning,if you want me to. If you're really worried about him." I told her.

"Please?"

"Sure." I kissed her cheek. "Lets go downstairs and try and find something on TV,don't think either of us is getting any sleep tonight anymore."

I walked over to Katniss' side of the bad and wrapped my arm around her,and we walked down the stairs and over to the couch.

"I'll be right back,ok?"

She just nodded and curled up next to the arm of the couch. I hate seeing her so upset,even when I know there's nothing I can do about it,it still hurts. When I'm in the kitchen making tea,and warming up a few cheese buns in the oven,I finally understand. Katniss and Prim were always so close,looking out for each other. Even though Prim's dead,does it mean that she still isn't looking out for Katniss? It sounds crazy-but is it really out of the realm of possibility?

When I walked back out,Katniss hadn't moved an inch. I put the try down on the table beside her and smoothed her hair with my hand. I leaned in and kissed her again. She kissed me back,but not like she usually does. When she pulled back,she just started fiddling with a flay away hair. I tucked it back behind her ear and sat down,taking her hand in mine. Just sitting there,for the rest of the night.


	2. Chapter 2

At around 8,Adara came downstairs. Katniss had fallen asleep about an hour before,but I never had. I'm just glad that if she was going to fall asleep,it was in my arms.

"Dad..?" Addy whispered. "Why are you and Mom down here?"

"It's a long story,sweetheart. You hungry?"

She nodded.

"Go wake your brother up,and meet me in the kitchen. But don't wake your mom up,ok? She had a rough night. Straight to the kitchen,understand?"

"Got it." She whispered before running up the stairs again.

I got up,moving Katniss as little as possible and went to the kitchen to scrounge something up for the kid's breakfast. Then I remembered to call Gale. I glanced up the clock,figuring that he'd be long awake by now and picked up the phone. 1...2...3 rings.

"Hello?" Gale's voice came over the line.

"Uhh..Gale? It's Peeta."

"Peeta? Whats going on? You all alright?"

I glanced around the corner at Katniss before responding.

"Well...not exactly."

"What do you mean? Somebody hurt?"

"Kind of...maybe."  
>"I'm lost. Whats wrong,Peeta?"<p>

"I had to wake Katniss up in the middle of the night last night...night-...well, not exactly _nightmares_,but,she told me that she's been seeing Prim in her dreams,and that she told her that something was wrong with Orion."

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Gale?" You still there?" I asked.

"Umm...Yeah...I'm still here. Just a lot to process." he chuckled half-heatedly.

"Yeah...anyway,I promised her that I'd call you...because she wants her mom to look at him."

"That's no problem at all. When do you guys want to be here by?"

I glanced behind me and saw the kids,listening intently behind the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"When's good for you?"

"Anytime-If any of you guys are hurt,I can make time. I'm in charge around here,remember?"

"Yeah...just...as soon as possible."

"Got it...I'll leave in an hour."

"Ok,thanks."

"Hey...Peeta? Is Katniss around? Can I talk to her?"

I contemplated it for a second. But Katniss probably needed to talk to him.

"Yeah,sure. Let me go get her."

As I walked out of the room Addy and Orion looked at me,obviously wondering whats going on. I held up one finger and went over to the couch.

"Kat...Gale's on the phone. He wants to talk to you."

She slowly woke up and took the phone from me. I kissed her cheek quickly before going back to the kitchen.

"Daddy,whats going on?" Orion asked.

I lifted him up onto the counter and Addy climbed onto one of the stools.

"Gale's gonna come and get us,and we're going to 13."

"Why?" Addy asked.

"It's...um...top secret ex-rebel business."

We always told them that when it's something they don't need to know about. They know that,and they never ask any more questions.

A few minutes later Katniss comes in and hangs up the phone.

"Mommy!" Orion chirped,and put his arms out,since he couldn't very well get himself down.

Katniss smiled and picked him up. To the kids,everything was normal,except that we were going to 13. But me and Katniss knew better. Her eyes met mine,and the sheer look of desperation in her eyes,was enough to terrify me.


	3. Chapter 3

As promised,an hour later,Gale was at the door. Since District 12 was once again inhabited,whenever anyone from 13 came here,they landed the hovercrafts in the meadow. For the past hour,Katniss had been upstairs getting a few things together,and I was down here,obsessively rearranging the kitchen. As soon as Gale walked in the kids ran from the living room,where they'd been playing to greet him. Not long after that Katniss came downstairs.

It doesn't really bother me anymore when Gale hugs Katniss. I know she isn't going anywhere.

"You guys ready?" He asked.

"I think so,Addy,Orion,go grab your backpacks from your rooms." Katniss told the kids,and they ran off up the stairs. Once they were safely out of earshot,Gale's expression changed.

"So,what's going on here? Peeta,what you were telling me over the phone...it really didn't make much sense."

Just as he finished his sentence,the kids ran back downstairs.

"Ready!" Orion chirped. Gale smiled and picked him up.

"I'll tell you later,when we can be alone,the 3 of us." I told him.

The kids didn't ask what we were talking about,either because it was "secret ex-rebel business" or they were too excited to care.

Luckily the walk to the meadow isn't a long one,and we're in the air in no time. Since the kids are always enthralled with the sights-me and Katniss have a chance to talk to Gale alone.

"So,what? Is there anything _noticeable_ wrong with him? Or are you trusting-" Katniss cut Gale off.

"Prim? Yes,I am."

"But are you sure it's Prim? I mean,it was in a dream..."

"I don't want to take chances,Gale. If there's something wrong with me kid..." Katniss trailed off,and I picked up where she went off.

"We want to know what it is before it becomes serious."

"Well,I understand that,but-"

All of a sudden,Orion fell over and started freaking out. We all got up and ran to make sure he's ok. After he calmed down,he just wondered what happened. He didn't remember a thing. Katniss started checking him over and decided to keep him awake until we got to 13,which we weren't too far from.

From my point to view-it reminded me of my tracker jacker attacks.

**A/N: Sorry about a few parts without much detail-couldn't think of how to phrase it! Tell me what you think,please (:**

**-Abby**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for the lack of updating the past few days,I've got school and all-so...yeah. I'm back-on with the story! Oh,and by the way-I thought I should mention,I got the story title from the Revive song Don't Give Up The Fight.**

Immediately after that,Gale called back to 13 and told Katniss' mom to meet us when we land. Orion was still oblivious to what had just happened,and kept needing to be reminded. It seemed to take forever to get there.

When we finally got there,Katniss started explaining everything-starting with her dream last night,to her mom as we hurried through the catacombs. Gale took Adara to the training center to let her play with the multitude of bows and arrows,as she usually did. As for the rest of us,every minute was excruciatingly long. Even though it was only a 5 minute walk to the hospital where Katniss' mom worked-it might as well have been an eternity.

Orion was still in a daze when we got there,just kind of staring blankly in my general direction in front of him. After checking over his vitals,and everything turning out normal,Katniss' mom was stuck with the decision of what to do next. This was obviously _not _the Orion everybody always sees,something is obviously wrong. And I don't even remember about my initial reaction until one of the other doctors starts looking him over.

"Umm...Mrs. Everdeen?"

"Yes,Peeta?"

"Back on the hovercraft,you know when this all started? It reminded me of those tracker jacker attacks I still get sometimes. Is it possible that..."

I started trailing off,trying to choose my next words carefully. With everyone still looking at me,waiting for the rest of what I was saying,I have to whisper the next part.

"...That is might be my fault?"

"Peeta- how could it be your fault?"

Katniss asked me,obviously thinking that I must have finally lost my marbles.

"Well,I mean,think about it- did it or did it not look like my tracker jacker attacks?"

Everyone in the room takes a few seconds to ponder this thought.

"Peeta... wait a second. I'm not sure that hijacking can be passed on for parents to children..." Ms. Everdeen stops to think,looking at the other doctor.

"...Can it?"

"Someone call defense...we might have to look into this. In the meantime,lets run a blood test and a CT scan...i think that should go easily seeing the state he's in."

As soon as the room cleared,Orion started looking around the room,finally letting his eyes land on me and Katniss on the side of the bed. He cocked his head.

"When did we get here? What's going on? We're in District 13 right? This can't be District 12."

I felt Katniss let out a sigh of relief, from where my arms were around her waist. Together we tried to explain to him what had happened,but it wasn't going very well. Ms. Everdeen puts us all out of our misery when she comes in to do the blood test on Orion.

"Woah! Who said anything about needles!" He jumped back.

"Well...it looks like someone's feeling better."

"I don't even no what happened! The last thing I remember is I blacked out. Then all of a sudden I'm in here and Mommy and Daddy are trying to tell me what happened and I just wanna go home!" He starts crying his eyes out before he finishes.

Katniss jumps to pick him up and hug him,try and calm him down. My eyes meet Katniss' mom's and at that moment,we both realize that we have to see if it's possible. If it _could _be the capitol's fault,because they messed with me. If that is what happened...this just got personal.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it's taken so long! I've been SWAMPED. Oh,and be on the look out for a prologue of my "Accidents Happen" story,decided to try and explain what exactly happened that day. Oh,and I'm jumping forward a little bit to speed it up,instead of meaningless rambling.**

_The Next Day:_

All the tests they did last night have all come back either normal of inconclusive. The current means of action are along the lines of tracking down the only person who knows what tracker jacker venom is capable of,the one that hijacked me,the one and only- Sebastian Chatzi. Last they heard,he was camped out somewhere in the mountains on the outskirts of 12,because he was terrified about being put to death by Plutarch. Chatzi apparently knows everything about hijacking and is the only one still alive who knows said information.

Amazingly,he was pretty easy to find. After they apprehended him,the told him that coughing up all his information would mean a reduced sentence. He eagerly agreed on the condition that the only people in the room were me,Katniss,Mrs. Everdeen,Orion,and a lone tape recorder. Plutarch took some convincing, (Katniss threatened to kill him like she killed Coin and Snow if he didn't agree) but eventually,reluctantly agreed and sent us into a conference room.

"So...Sebastian Chatzi. The man who made my husband want to kill me and maybe even hurt my son...Never thought I'd get to see the bastard face to face..." Katniss glared at him from across the table. I gently pulled her hand off the table ,but she shook me off.

"Katniss Everdeen...I've heard so many things about you...and Peeta Mellark...nice to see you again."

Katniss growled at him. I decided I'd better say something fast before this turns deadly.

"It's obvious we all hate each other,so why don't we just cut to the chase..."

I planted my hands on the table and stood up,leaning over the table and looking directly into Chatzi's snake eyes.

"Is Orion hijacked too? If so,whats going to happen,and how do we fix it?"

He stood up and laughed. At the same time Katniss shot up,knocking her chair down in the process,took her bow and an arrow out of the sheath on her back and aimed at his right at his eye.

"Come any closer to Peeta or my son and you're dead. Mutt food." Katniss glared. Orion,from his seat,aimed the little toy trident Annie and Finnick's son,Caspian,had given to him the last time we saw the Odairs,at him.

"Now,we wouldn't want to do that...now would we. Then you would never know what's wrong with your...precious...little boy here..." He slowly started to step closer to our end of the table.

"Would we?"

Katniss didn't put her bow down,simply aimed lower. More toward his crotch. So that way,he would be injured,not dead,and could still release the needed information. Chatzi nodded.

"Much better. Now,I will tell you what I know. But only what is necessary."

The room went dead silent.

"I can tell you,it is possible for the tracker jacker venom to be passed down from parent to child. Is it likely,no? But in this little boy here..." He said motioning to Orion,who hissed in response,probably because he hadn't used his name once.

"It is certain. But there is also nothing we can do about it. You just have to deal with it...unless,of course..." He walked the rest of the way to our end of the room. Katniss re-aimed at his eye. Chatzi made his way to Orion,and just as his hand touched Orion's blonde curls,he fell over backward-and arrow straight through his eye.


	6. Chapter 6

**Before I pick this up-I just wanna thank everyone really quick. Seriously-every review I get makes me smile,I think it's so awesome that so many people like my writing! (: And real quick- I'm working on a new story on Fiction Press called Operation: Annihilation and I just put in the introduction,so if you wanna read something completely from my imagination-go right ahead! My pen name on there is onceinalifetimex. OK! On with the story!**

The rush of emotions that followed was incredible. My son's hijacked too. It didn't even cross my mind that Katniss just killed the man. But I could tell from the look in her eyes that she didn't fell bad about it at all like she did in the Games. The silence was broken when Orion threw his little trident at Chatzi's bleeding corpse.

"Die,weenie!" Orion chirped,jumping up and down on his chair.

I picked it up and wiped it off on my shirt. Mrs. Everdeen simply clicked the tape recorder off,the cue for Plutarch and Gale to come in. Gale burst in through the door almost instantly. And stood frozen 5 feet in the door when he saw Katniss, bow still in hand,holding Orion closely, and Sebastian Chatzi's dead body,arrow still through his eye,on the floor. His eyes finally met mine,which must have spelled out the whole story for him. Because he finally walked toward the corpse,bent over and picked the arrow up.

Unfortunately for me-his eye came out with it. Gale and Katniss were,of course, fine with this. I'm not sure when Mrs. Everdeen left,but probably before the eye came out of it's socket,since she would likely be fine with this as well.

Plutarch came in and picked up the tape recorder.

"What happened in here?" He asked,looking around the room.

I motioned to the tape recorder.

"Listen to the tape and find out." I replied and looked over at Katniss,who still looked slightly distraught.

"But I suggest somewhere else. I don't think Kat and Orion want to go through that again."

Plutarch nodded.

"It looks so..." He trailed off. But I didn't need to hear the rest of his sentence.

"I was right." I told him,before putting my arm around Katniss and Orion and turning to leave.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry it's taken so long to update,and it's actually amazing I'm updating this NOW because I'm swamped this week with school. :p On with the story!**

Gale took us to his room,where Addy was waiting patiently on the bed,swinging her legs. But when she looked up and saw us,her eyes lit up. She hadn't seen us all day,since they called us to the Hospital long before she was awake,and she was genuinely concerned about her baby brother. She reminds me so much of Katniss.

"Mom! Daddy! 'Rion!" She yelled,jumping off the bed and crashing herself into my legs and wrapping her arms around me. "You're back! How'd it go? Did they catch 'im?"

I bent down to eye level and took Adara's tiny hands in my own.

"Yeah,the caught him,sweetie..."

From across the room I could hear Gale stifle a laugh.

"Things went...well..."

I was struggling to find the right words. How exactly do you explain to your 7 year old daughter that her baby brother's going through the same thing as her dad? Katniss came back from tucking Orion in Gale's bad,since he was crashed out long before we got back,and bent down alongside me. I must have been stammering like an idiot because she started talking.

"Addy...what your Dad is trying to say is..." she trailed off and sighed. "You know when Daddy...doesn't act right?"

"You mean the tracker jacker attacks? Yeah."

I didn't know she knew that much.

"Well...somehow Orion gets them too. Not exactly the same,because Orion doesn't have the memories so he can't have flashbacks,but he just reacts the same. But,like Daddy's...there's nothing we can do. Not yet,anyway."

I look over at Gale,who's putting clothes away in his dresser,and he's shaking his head.

"Catnip,you're forgetting something,remember?"

"Gale,that's irrelevant. She doesn't need to know that." Katniss snaps back.

"Know what? What don't I need to know?" Addy looks back and forth between the two of them.

"Fine,Catnip,we'll do it the hard way. Bread Boy,what do you think."

"Will you stop calling him that! He has a name,you know."

"Fine. _Peeta._ What do you think?"

"Umm...well..."

"FOR THE LOVE OF PANEM!" Gale yells,directed at me. I really hate when Gale and Katniss put me in the middle of their fights.

"GALE HAWTHORNE AT LEAST GIVE HIM A CHANCE!" Katniss yells back. Why does she feel the need to protect me? Maybe because this is the one thing she has control over? Before I can decide,she's up and across the room,face to face with Gale,and they continue yelling at each other. Thank God,Orion's sleeping through this. Addy huddles against me,her head buried in the crook of my neck,trying not to cry. I just wrap my arms around her and pull her closer,and silently pray to myself that Katniss looks over.

Before I can finish my thought,my eyes suddenly squeeze tighter,and every working joint in my body tenses up,and I gasp and bite my lip. All the usual for my tracker jacker attacks. Katniss hears and all attention turns to me. Gale tries to pick Addy up off my lap,but she refuses to let go of me,and I refuse to let got of her. Neither of us can keep from crying anymore. Katniss can only loosen one of my hands and hold it tight,running her fingers through my hair.

"Chatzi's dead. Real or not real?"

"Real. I just killed him." Katniss answers my question.

"12 was destroyed beyond repair. Real or not real?"

"Not real. Everyone moved back after the war."

"Gale killed Prim. Real or not real?"

Katniss stays quiet. I can almost feel the anger radiating off Gale's body.

"Real or not real?" I yell this time,demanding an answer. Tightening my grip on the 2 girls in my world that mean everything to me.

"Umm...not...real?" Katniss barely chokes out. Finally,I start to come back to earth.

"Daddy?" Addy,with tears still flowing,asks.

"Adara...baby girl." I whisper and hug her tighter.

"Are you ok?" She asks,pulling back.

"I'm fine,sweetie." I kiss her forehead and she smiles,and kisses me back. She stands up and runs over the Katniss,who picks her up to hug her.

Gale stands over me,glaring. Finally he reaches down and pulls me up by my shirt collar. He shoves me against the wall and supports himself by putting his hands on either side of my head.

"Don't you EVER think that. DO YOU HEAR ME?" He yells,with maybe 3 inches of space between us.

"GALE LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Katniss puts Addy down and runs over and tries to pull Gale off me. Gale just backhands her cheek whenever she tries,making me even madder. Over all the chaos on our end of the room I hear Addy frantically dial the phone and cry into the receiver.

"Haymitch! Help,we're in District 13 and Gale's fighting with Mommy and Daddy!"

**Ahhhhhh...like the plot twist? This chapter WOULD be longer...but I'm already at the end of my second page in OpenOffice. So I shall save the rest of another day. (:**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So you like plot twist,yes? Thought so. Oh,and if you're going through a HG withdrawal,you might want to try "The Hunger But Mostly Death Games" by Bratniss Everclean,it's hilarious! And I changed the rating,it's getting way too violent to stay rated K+!**

I don't have much of an idea of how long we were standing there fighting,but all I know is that someone wouldn't have made it out alive if Haymitch hadn't come in when he did.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM!" He yells at the top of his lungs,just as Gale hits Katniss for just about the 20th time.

He proceeds to rip Gale off the both of us and smack him. Hard. Gale tries to fight back but Haymitch has the death grip on him,so it's no use. Katniss falls into my arms,sobbing uncontrollably. Orion and Adara are still huddled on the floor across the room.

"Kat...the kids." I whisper in her ear as calmly and protectively as I can,and she calms down as much as possible. As if on cue,the kids run over.

"Hawthorne..." Haymitch grumbled,studying Gale. "How much have you had to drink today!"

"Nothing! I'm not like you! I know better,and the kids are here!" Gale replies curtly.

"Bullshit!" Haymitch yells,backhanding him again. Katniss covers Orion's ears. Even though both the kids have heard far worse words today.

Haymitch drags Gale into the bathroom and locks the door. Then turns over to us,and takes Orion from Katniss' arms and hands him to me. I put Addy down and she grips my real leg tight. He looks over Katniss carefully. He might be an old drunk,but he knows what he's doing,and even though he doesn't need to watch over us anymore,he does anyway. He really cares.

"You better go see your mother." He says as gently as he can muster. "Your pupils are seriously dilated and that cut on your cheek probably needs stitches."

He runs his fingers through her hair and kisses her forehead,hugs me and Orion and kisses Addy like Katniss.

"I'll take care of him. Sober him up. I'll try and get some information out of him."

"Thanks,Haymitch." I say and we walk out the door.

As soon as we got inside the Hospital, Mrs. Everdeen comes running.

"What happened!" She cried.

"We got into a fight with Gale...it's a long story. Haymitch is trying to sober him up." I explain.

She continues studying Katniss' face.

"Well,you definitely need stitches for that cut. Katniss...did Gale hit you?"

Katniss nodded.

"More than once." She whispered.

"Come with me...I'll fix you up. And I might have good news for Orion,It's won't help Peeta,I'm afraid,but it might be worth a shot with Orion."

After Katniss gets stitched up,her mom starts explaining how we might be able to help Orion.

"It would be experimental, of course, but I was thinking since he can't have the flashbacks, maybe if we start him on anti-seizure medication,since that's pretty much what the attacks are,minus flashbacks,they might go away." She explained. "But,only if you two want to try it."

I looked at Katniss. I knew my answer,but I wasn't going to say anything unless she thought it was a good idea. I know how he feels,and I just can't live with knowing he has to suffer too. Katniss looks back at me with a mixture of fear,hope,and uncertainty in her eyes.

"I-I think...I think Peeta should decide. He knows what it's like...nobody else does."

I'm suddenly torn. I look down and see the kids, playing on the floor,without a care in the world. I can't take that away from them,not knowing what could happen when. But on the other hand,I can't be sure what they're like for him. He's far too young to put it into words what he feels. He can't decide for himself. I finally reach a decision. 

"Lets try it. Then,if it works,he can decide for himself. 3 is too young to have to deal with this..."

Mrs. Everdeen nods.

"Just give me a call if anything is worrying either of you. I think it'd be best for you all to go back home,or else I would want you to stay here so I can watch him. It's just to temperamental with Gale right now,it just wouldn't be safe."

Just then,Haymitch knocks on the door and walks in.

"I've got Gale with me. He's sobered up enough. I told him what happened and I couldn't get him to stop crying until I told him I'd bring him down here. He feels terrible and wants to talk to you two." He must see the worry in my eyes because he adds, "I'm not leaving you alone with him. I promise."

I nod and look at Katniss. She nods back and we slip out the door. As soon as Gale sees Katniss,he starts crying again.

"Catnip...I-I-I'm sorry." He says in between sobs. I keep my arm around her shoulders,looking as mad as I can. It takes forever for Katniss to shake me off and slowly walk over to Gale.

"Gale,all I want to know is why you just up and got drunk like that. You were watching my daughter for God's sake!"

"I'm sorry...I was just...I was worried about Orion. But,I know that isn't an excuse. I know. I'm sorry."

Katniss glances back at me,I nod back at her and she turns around,embracing Gale.

"It's ok...we forgive you."


	9. Chapter 9

**Long time no update! Just so you all are aware,I only update stories when I get reviews on new chapters,so I know how people like the direction. This may very well be the final chapter in this story. But I have 3 others with chapters going,and I always have some crazy idea,so you will never be without my writing for long. (;**

We left for home,with Haymitch in tow,late that night. It was nearly dawn by the time we got home,and Haymitch and the kids slept the whole way,while Katniss and I were up most of the night. Katniss fell asleep around 2 in the morning with her head in my lap,holding my hand. Haymitch volunteered to watch the kids so we could take a walk and clear our heads. Addy and Orion were going to be asleep for a good while anyway,and I took the week off work so we could try and establish our new normal.

We had walked a good mile in silence,just the occasional kiss and hand squeeze,until I finally got up the courage to say what I had to say.

"Kat...do you think I made the right decision?"

"I think you did,but there's no way we would know unless we tried."

We walked in silence until we found ourselves in the same field we had been in when we knew we were going to be together. Forever.

I stopped and lay down in the grass. Katniss giggled and sat down next to me.

"You love me. Real or not real?" I asked.

"Real." She smiled and kissed me.

"Always?" I asked.

"Always. We're going need each other to get through this."

I pulled her down so she was laying beside me and kissed her.

"I'm gonna love you through it." I whispered. "No matter what."

When we got back home,the kids were still asleep,and Haymitch we sitting at the table,staring off into space.

"Haymitch...you ok?" Katniss asked.

"I'm fine,kid. Just thinking."

"About what?" I asked,sitting down across the table from him,next to Katniss.

"Everything. Life...recent nightmares..."

"What do you mean? Something new we don't know about?" Katniss asked.

"It's nothing,Katniss. Don't worry about it. I don't need to scare you two..."

"Just tell us...nothing much can scare us worse." I mumbled.

"Fine...for a few weeks,I've been having the same nightmare. Probably the worst thing imaginable, after having to mentor you two in the arena again..."

Katniss looked over at me and took my hand under the table. I wrapped my arm around her in response and she leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder.

"The worst thing next to having you two to mentor again,is having to mentor Adara and Orion...over,and over,and over again. Every. Single. Night. Last night was the first time in about 3 months that I haven't had that nightmare...because I had them both right there next to me."

"Haymitch...we both have the same one." Katniss whispered. "we always just stand in their doorway...just to know they're ok. If you need to,you know you're always welcome here."

"Thanks,kid." He smiled across the table at us.

**EPILAUGE **

Orion's been on the seizure medication for a month now,and he hasn't had an attack since. Strangely enough,I haven't either. Every few nights I hear Haymitch come in and double check that both kids are alright. Gale came over a few days ago and apologized for 3 straight hours again,and Katniss told Addy and Orion she killed the man who hijacked me. I don't think I've ever seen that little girl so hyped up before! I believe her exact words were-

"Alright! Go Mom! I would've done the same thing if that mutt got anywhere near **my** baby brother! Or Daddy,or you!"

If I've said it once,I've said it a million times-that girl is her mother's daughter. Maybe a little more violent,but she's been watching highlights from the games on TV on Saturday mornings before we're up. No matter how many time Katniss,Haymitch and I tell her she isn't old enough. At least she hasn't seen our games or Haymitch's. Not yet anyway.

And Orion,he's still Orion. Always trying to help at the bakery,and accidentally putting salt in the cookie dough instead of sugar,you know,3 year old stuff. He doesn't even seem to remember what happened,and thanks to my skills in the kitchen,he's oblivious that he's on medication at all. One day we'll remind him,but until then,we'll just let him keep his innocence.


End file.
